Would Trump Buy Greenland? Denmark Isn’t Selling

Would Trump Buy Greenland? Denmark Isn’t Selling

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – President Donald Trump reportedly wants to buy Greenland, the world’s biggest island. Denmark, unsure whether the former real estate developer is joking, isn’t selling. A Wall Street Journal report outlining the U.S. president’s apparent interest in a deal left Danes bewildered, with a former prime minister asking if it was a joke. A member of the ruling political bloc in Denmark, which helps run Greenland as an autonomous territory, called it a “terrible idea.”…

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Kenya’s Biggest Bank Seeks Deals as KCB Chases 12% Profit Growth

Kenya’s Biggest Bank Seeks Deals as KCB Chases 12% Profit Growth

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa)  – KCB Group Plc is targeting an increase in full-year earnings of as much as 12% as Kenya’s biggest bank boosts lending and scouts for acquisitions to bolster an African expansion. That’s more than double the pace in the first half as the Nairobi-based lender chases double-digit loans growth for the full year, mainly in the personal, corporate and manufacturing space, Chief Executive Officer Joshua Oigara said. An expansion of KCB’s mobile-banking services…

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Ramaphosa’s Dependence on the Left Stymies South African Reforms

Ramaphosa’s Dependence on the Left Stymies South African Reforms

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is hamstrung by politics and the economy is suffering the consequences. His narrow win to become leader of the ruling African National Congress in December 2017 has left him dependent on the left — the unions and the South African Communist Party that are ANC allies and helped him become party president. Now the same labor movement that he worked to strengthen almost four…

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IMF Says S. Africa Hasn’t Asked for Assistance, Doesn’t Need It

IMF Says S. Africa Hasn’t Asked for Assistance, Doesn’t Need It

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in AfricA) – South Africa has not asked the International Monetary Fund for assistance and does not need it, the lender’s resident representative in the country said. The IMF doesn’t see a balance-of-payments problem in South Africa, which means there’s no need for IMF support, Montfort Mlachila said Thursday at a conference hosted by the Bureau for Economic Research in Johannesburg. “To tell you the truth we, by we I mean the institution, much prefer the…

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Africa’s Biggest Fund Manager Sees Gold Boom in West Africa

Africa’s Biggest Fund Manager Sees Gold Boom in West Africa

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in AfricA) – Africa’s largest money manager sees “significant investment opportunities” in West African gold mining as the industry at the southern end of the continent declines. Investor-friendly policies can help Ghana and other countries in the region drive the next “gold-mining boom,” said Lebohang Sekhokoane, a mining research analyst at South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. Low-cost deposits in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Ivory Coast offer the long-term investment potential the PIC…

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Ghana Bans Funds From Taking New Cash With $1.6 Billion Tied Up

Ghana Bans Funds From Taking New Cash With $1.6 Billion Tied Up

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – As much as $1.6 billion of investments in Ghana have been trapped and the nation’s regulator is stepping in to avoid it getting any bigger. Twenty one fund managers have been banned from accepting new money as Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission looks into whether they violated rules by placing client cash into illiquid assets. Investors who sought to withdraw funds from the firms have found their money unavailable,…

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Trump’s Re-Election Now at the Mercy of a Slowing Economy

Trump’s Re-Election Now at the Mercy of a Slowing Economy

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The growing odds of a recession before the 2020 election threaten to crush President Donald Trump’s hopes of a second term. Though still uncertain, such a scenario would be a political gift to Democrats, who have avoided talking about the nearly full employment, record stocks and low inflation so far in the Trump presidency. Instead, the candidates have highlighted rising income inequality and untenable costs of health care and college…

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